Really, really, really, really, really watered down Workplace relations law passed – NZ doesn’t implode into socialist apocalypse

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I’m not having a good year am I?

Yawn…

Workplace relations law finally passed after tortured journey
The Government finally passed its flagship workplace relations bill after months of consternation, ending 90-day trials for large businesses.

The bill was twice softened by Labour’s coalition partner NZ First – first before it was introduced and then before the second reading.

The behind-the-scenes controversy over the bill spilled out into the public arena in August and September when NZ First MP Shane Jones criticised parts of it on Q+A and leader Winston Peters described it as a “work in progress”. This led to unions writing directly to Peters asking him to back down.

…the National Party and their Boss mates whipped this toothless lapdog up as the first shots in some communist revolution that would a socialist apocalypse unleashed on the mums and dads of NZ.

The Workplace relations law was always a watered down meaningless bit of nothing that simply took the Union movement back 10 years to before National had stripped them bare. There isn’t anything modern or empowering about this legislation, it is a whitewash lip service to the union moment to look like something has been done when really very little has changed.

The established Unions will have the same monopoly they’ve always enjoyed while the vast majority of workers receive very little in terms of empowerment.

The Government may as well have done nothing. Total victory to the business community for manufacturing a threat out of this mirage.

8 COMMENTS

  1. Oh No! Not the “Woke” NeoLiberal Incrementalistic Labour party again! To afraid of its own shadow to do the right thing or anything bold?! FFS!

  2. This is part of MMP and what happens when you have a coalition government one has to make trade offs. As national did when they couldn’t get their RMA clauses passed by Dunn and the Maori Party so it languished.

  3. If people had voted Green in the same numbers as they voted Labour, we would have had much stronger workplace laws because the Green Party’s fault is also its strength. It is staunch. It remains the only “outsider” party in Parliament. It just needs a lot more MPs to get vote in so it has some real power.

  4. AFFCO workers are celebrating they will get their meals and rest breaks back. You cannot underestimate how important this is to them, working in one of the shitty jobs, standing all day, on concrete in gumboots. And as you know this Bill was only ever a “correction”. There is more underway and you better start campaigning now because NZ First will continue to be an obstacle to workplace law changes.

    • One wonders where NZ first is when immigration allows in 100 offshore meat workers as per my post above.
      Situations like AFFCO won’t happen again because kiwis will simply not be employed we don’t make good enough serfs.
      The coalition government is clearly OK with it.

      • The Meat Workers Union opposed these workers coming in because we don’t think meat companies are doing a good enough job in trying to recruit locals ; The process is the same one the Nats used for the last nine years and is not good enough. Changes need to be made and we are hopeful they will come in the New Year. We’ve made our concerns known to the government and are calling for an industry/union and government agency effort to work on this. We’ve had a positive response from the Minister. On the plus side these workers are coming into highly unionised sites and will be covered by the union collective agreement. MWU has managed to stop Talleys getting Halal slaughter men because of their antics.

        • Thank you for your hard work,
          I hope bigger better changes are ahead for working kiwis. Business is automatically anti Labour regardless but there are votes to be had if the government only grow a set and look after our people.

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